28 Feb 2016 US: Monster goes vertical in acquiring longtime flavour supplier

The deal means that Monster now owns intellectual property related to flavour development of the company’s products, including the flagship green variety and other flavours central to Monster’s portfolio.

Monster will also now be able to better distribute American Fruit and Flavors’ products throughout Monster’s international supply chain.

FoodDive.com offers these insights:

This grants Monster opportunities that other energy drink makers — and beverage companies in general — don’t have by putting new flavour technologies directly into Monster’s hands.

An in-house flavour department reduces costs and increases earnings, but it also provides an advantage with the flexibility to control flavour development.

As consumers, particularly millennials, demand more beverage flavour innovation, that limitation can hinder a manufacturer’s growth potential. Currently, energy drink flavours tend to be dominated by fruity varieties, but having the flavour technologies plus Monster’s resources under one roof could foster a new wave of tastes.

AFF stands to benefit as a flavour ingredients company with easier access to international markets. This means increased revenue by expanding into new countries (for both AFF and Monster), but it can also lead to increased innovation. International distribution enables AFF to test out new flavours on the global market to determine which flavours are most successful where.

Source: FoodDive.com